


Always Be Yourself Unless You Can Be A Mermaid

by stevergrsno (noxlunate)



Series: Steve Rogers Is Not Your Little Mermaid [2]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Dancing, Fluff, Kid Fic, M/M, Mating Rituals, MerMay, Merpeople, Strip Tease, Werewolf Bucky Barnes, Werewolves, albiet an awkward one, mermaid Steve Rogers, or discussion thereof
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-31
Packaged: 2020-02-15 18:54:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 16,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18675490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noxlunate/pseuds/stevergrsno
Summary: A series of (hopefully!) 31 ficlets and drabbles set in A World That Makes Such Wonderful Things in celebration of the month of MerMay!





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> HAPPY MERMAY YA'LL.  
> Prompt: unsexy mermaid striptease 
> 
> **SUMMARY:** After more than three whole years in the human world Steve Rogers is very good at being human.
> 
> He doesn’t care if Sam argues otherwise because Sam is wrong. Steve is doing great. Steve is, as the humans say, keeping it gucci. He is a _master_ of humaning.

After more than three whole years in the human world Steve Rogers is  _ very good  _ at being human. 

He doesn’t care if Sam argues otherwise because Sam is  _ wrong.  _ Steve is doing great. Steve is, as the humans say, keeping it _gucci_. He is a  _ master  _ of humaning. 

He is also, after all this time in a relationship with one Bucky Barnes, doing  _ great  _ at this relationship thing. Maybe. He thinks he is at least? Yeah. He’s doing  _ great.  _

Which is why Steve is going to  _ prove it.  _ Even if Sam thinks it’s a terrible idea. 

(“Steve, this is going to be awkward for everyone involved,” Sam had said, attempting to be the voice of reason. Which was wrong. Because he was not actually being reasonable. 

“I think it’s a  _ great  _ idea,” Natasha had said, sliding forward off the couch to steal another slice of pizza from the box. Natasha agreeing with Steve had been just more proof that she’s been a fantastic addition to Pizza Friday.

“See? Natasha thinks it’s great!”

“Natasha thinks a lot of things that are bad ideas are great ideas Steve. That’s called being fae.”) 

Which is how Steve ends up reading six different articles and watching two different youtube videos on how to do a striptease for one’s partner. 

Which is how he ends up standing in the middle of his and Bucky’s living room on Bucky’s birthday attempting to do some sort of shimmy with his dumb two legged body that is making Bucky look like he’s going to suffocate from how hard he’s trying not to laugh. 

Steve manages to slowly and not at all sexily, he’s  _ sure,  _ get out of his shirt and drop it onto the ground with a little flick of his hand like the video told him to do which has Bucky looking at him appreciatively, because  _ of course  _ it does, but he’s also biting his lip so hard that Steve worries he’s going to draw blood. 

“It would have been a lot sexier if we were in the water,” Steve says when he absolutely cannot go on  _ any longer  _ for fear that the awkwardness will swallow him whole and Bucky will  _ actually  _ break something with his efforts to not laugh at Steve.

“I’m sure it would be,” Bucky says agreeably and Steve suspects he’s trying to humor him, but also he’s holding his arms out in invitation so Steve can’t be irritated enough to  _ not  _ slide into Bucky’s lap. 

“You’re humoring me but I’m gonna accept it,” Steve says, sliding his arms over Bucky’s shoulders and tipping their foreheads together. 

“I am,” Bucky agrees easy as anything and then he’s pressing a kiss to just below Steve’s eye, on the apple of his cheek, to the corner of his mouth, to his jaw, “But you don’t have to dance to be sexy Steve.” 

It should be  _ corny,  _ like something out of a bad movie, but Bucky does something with his teeth to Steve’s jaw and Steve melts like an ice pack in the summer, feeling soft and pliant under Bucky’s grip to his hips. 

“I was trying to give you a  _ present,”  _ Steve says, a little breathless and a lot distracted when Bucky’s mouth seems to decide Steve’s collarbones are in need of attention. 

“You  _ are _ my present,” Bucky says and Steve can see the corner of his shit eating grin from where his head is bent down and Steve groans with the full force of his  _ body.  _

“Land dwellers,” Steve says very seriously, “Are  _ so corny.”  _


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Dad,” She says with a serious curve to her cupid bow mouth as she opens her hands to show Steve what she’s gathered.
> 
> Steve, with all the seriousness he would give the best pieces at the Louvre inspects each and every piece of sea glass and each and every shell he’s presented with, making exaggerated impressed faces and oohing and ahhing at each one.
> 
> “Very good treasure, guppy,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AYYY IT'S THE SECOND DAY OF MERMAY. I had no intention of making this a kid fic but then I held a baby for two hours today and I had too many feelings so this happened. 
> 
> Prompt: Glass

The early winter trips to the beach that happen when the cold sinks in and Steve gets restless become something of a tradition. 

Some years the others come with them, Sam or Natasha or Bucky’s little sisters or others as the years crawl by and Steve’s little family that he's cobbled together on land gets bigger. 

Some years it's just the two of them until Bucky starts looking at families with small children with a sort of  _ wanting  _ look and Steve says “Do you-” and Bucky says “ _ Yeah.  _ Shit. Yeah. I  _ do,”  _ and they end up with Marley because Steve’s never, not once wanted to say  _ no _ to anything that Bucky clearly wants. Besides, it’s not like Steve didn’t  _ not  _ want a big pod. 

Marley, or Marlowe - or just ‘Lo if you’re Natasha and you want to irritate Steve because you claim that’s what friends  _ do-  _ is two years old and has brown bouncy curls and eyes the color of sea glass.  

Steve loves her so much that he’s perfectly sure he would fight a kraken for her. 

Steve loves her so much that he and Bucky skip tradition her first winter when she comes down with a cold. He loves her so much that he willingly subject himself to hours in a car with a toddler her second winter so that Steve can show her the ocean  _ properly _ . Properly being when it’s bitter cold and the waves crash onto the rocks so hard that you fear they might rend you to bits if you were caught up in them. 

Not that they get too close to the harsher bits of the coast, sticking to a calm stretch of beach that Marley can toddle around along, shrieking when she chases after gulls where they settle into groups that disperse when Marley gets too close.  

Later, they’ll put Marley to bed and Steve will slip below the water while Bucky sits on the beach with a baby monitor, but for now he enjoys the sight of Marley ahead, the feel of the sand between his toes, and Bucky’s hand strong and warm and callused where it’s curled through Steve’s own. 

For now he stoops down when Marley abandons her pursuit of the gulls and thrusts her fists at him where she’s grasping worn soft sea glass and shells between her tiny fingers. 

“ _ Dad _ ,” She says with a serious curve to her cupid bow mouth as she opens her hands to show Steve what she’s gathered. 

Steve, with all the seriousness he would give the best pieces at the Louvre inspects each and every piece of sea glass and each and every shell he’s presented with, making exaggerated impressed faces and oohing and ahhing at each one. 

“Very good treasure, guppy,” Steve says and presses a kiss to the top of Marley’s head, every single ounce of pride in his voice sincere. 

And then Marley is dumping the pile into Steve’s hands for him to stow away in a bag they’ve brought along for this exact purpose before she’s toddling off again and Bucky is looking at Steve with this sort of excruciatingly fond look on his face that has Steve sticking his tongue out at him until Bucky interrupts that with a kiss.

“Don’t be a sap,” Steve says when he’s returned his tongue to his own mouth and Bucky has kissed him breathless. 

“I’m not being a sap,” Bucky argues. 

“Yeah you are. You’re practically a tree you’re so sappy,” Steve insists, bumping his shoulder into Bucky’s as he takes his hand again, dragging Bucky along with him again to meander along the beach. 

“I’m not. I was just thinking. Contemplating even.” 

“You’re not supposed to think, you know how dangerous that is?” Steve teases, “What were you contemplating.” 

“Just how nutty you and Marley are about your treasure-” 

“We are  _ not  _ nutty-” 

“And how really, I got the best treasure there is,” Bucky finishes, gesturing out expansively towards Steve, towards Marley, seemingly towards their whole life. 

“ _ Sap,”  _ Steve says again, “The  _ sappiest,”  _ though really, it’s not like he can disagree. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick note that these are definitely not gonna all be in any sort of chronological order and also I literally have no idea if the kid is an mpreg baby or an adopted baby or what. Also come yell with me about things on twitter @attackofthezee


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s no need to dwell on what things would be like if they were different.
> 
> Which is why it’s a surprise when Bucky says “I was thinking we could go to the beach this full moon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY THIRD DAY OF MERMAY. Today's Prompt is @softestbuck on twitter saying "They should go swimming!" and also @bardic_beauty on twitter saying “Also, full moon shifted Bucky doggy paddling with mer Steve and getting tired and Steve letting him float leaning on his stomach because it’s so cute???”
> 
> ETA: THE BEAUTIFUL AND ALWAYS GLORIOUS AND INCREDIBLE RENE AKA DEISDERIUM MADE ART FOR A SCENE IN THIS CHAPTER!!! PLS PLS GO CHECK IT OUT [HERE](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18804925) BECAUSE IT'S INCREDIBLE.

When Steve learned to swim it was by his mother’s side, twisting and turning through the water as he learned to use his body the way he was meant to and Sarah provided soft encouragement and proud approval. 

After, when she’d died and before Steve left the water to find a life on land he could never get used to swimming by himself. 

These days it’s a little easier to do, to dive beneath the waves and return to a place that used to be and still is in some ways  _ home  _ without her by his side. He’s not sure he’ll ever be entirely used to the lack of her, but it gets a little easier to bare, turns into something that  _ almost  _ feels normal. 

So yeah, he’s getting used to it. He can at least pretend to be used to it fairly well. He can soak up the moments when his friends and Bucky go with him to the beach and he gets to splash around with them in the waves and even if that doesn’t  _ quite  _ feel the same as swimming with them it’s  _ enough.  _

There’s no need to dwell on what things would be like if they were different. 

Which is why it’s a surprise when Bucky says “I was thinking we could go to the beach this full moon.” 

Because Bucky normally spends full moons with other werewolves and Steve, once he’d stopped being a ball of worried nerves that needed to be calmed by Natasha whacking him with a rolled up newspaper and reminding Steve that just because Steve hasn’t been around for it doesn’t mean Bucky hasn’t been going through full moons his whole life, had started using those nights to go swim. 

So it’s a little bit of a change. But a pleasant one. One Steve very much approves of and shows that approval by dragging Bucky into a long kiss that leaves the both of them a little breathless. 

“I’ll take that as a yes?”

 

The beach is empty already, the chill that rolls around with the late evening meaning no one is quite brave enough to venture out even if there weren’t whispered tales of what certain sea dwelling creatures get up to on full moons. 

They’re all inaccurate, of course, but Steve can’t complain when it means everything is still and quiet and  _ empty  _ when the moon rises and Bucky’s bones crack and shift and reshape until he’s standing in front of Steve in his wolf form. 

Steve doesn’t resist the urge to touch that rises up every time he sees Bucky as a wolf, sliding his hands into the thickest section of fur around Bucky’s neck, bending down just the slightest bit to press his lips to the soft spot between his eyes. 

And then Bucky is loping around him, using his nose to nudge at Steve’s back and shove him towards the water. 

 

Steve dives beneath the water, letting the change wash over him, this body stronger,  _ bigger,  _ built for the cold depths of the sea and everything that entails. 

Bucky always looks at him a little bit different when he’s like this. Not  _ better,  _ and certainly not  _ worse,  _ but like he’s categorizing all the differences between this version of Steve and the one he sees every day. He gives Steve the same look now, even if the delivery is a little different as a wolf. 

He dog paddles closer to Steve and Steve scratches at one of Bucky’s ears, smooths a hand over the top of shaggy wet fur and then he’s off, swimming further and expecting Bucky to follow after. 

He does, because of course he does, and they swim like that until they turn lazy, more floating than anything. 

Steve lets himself rest on his back, his tail cutting lazy paths through the water as Bucky more or less flops as much as one is able to do in the water and ends up half across Steve with Steve holding him up in the water. 

Steve’s always a little amazed at how  _ cute  _ he is like this. Not that Bucky isn’t  _ always  _ cute, but as a human he’s what Steve has referred to on multiple,  _ multiple  _ occasions to poor unsuspecting coffee shop customers as “the definition of human perfection with a chest I’d like to  _ drown myself in.”  _ In wolf form he’s slightly more cute in the way that puppies or sea otters are cute. 

The cuteness is why Steve is always excused from spending at least half of the time that Bucky’s in wolf form around him with his hands buried in Bucky’s fur or scratching at his ear, or when Bucky’s in a particularly good mood, scratching at Bucky’s stomach. It’s why he’s perfectly excused from doing such things now, fiddling with Bucky’s soft ears and scratching under his chin absently as they float along under the bright light of the full moon high in the sky. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was written tonight after a long day so if there were mistakes I'm blaming it on THAT. This whole ficlet a day is definitely an exercise in attempting to be LESS of a perfectionist ya'll. Also come yell with me on twitter @attackofthezee where I am as salty as the mermaid I secretly am.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’s Star Wars?”
> 
> “You don’t- _‘What’s Star Wars’?”_ Bucky repeats, flabbergasted.
> 
> Steve fixes him with a very blank, very bland look that he’s learned manages to translate to each and every one of his friends the message of _‘Oh I’m so sorry I spent my life in the ocean and don’t know every land dweller’s cultural touchstones after a year and some change with legs.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY FOURTH DAY OF MERMAY YA'LL. The prompt for this one is definitely Star Wars because I could not help myself.

It’s barely a few months into  _ actually _ courting each other that Steve is faced with the fact that Bucky Barnes is  _ truly _ the world’s biggest nerd. 

He’s forced to accept the Giant Nerd status of his boyfriend when Bucky hands him the chalkboard sign for outside the coffee shop and the list of specials and says “Draw something Star Wars themed for May The Fourth,” and then proceeds to look like Steve just threw a sea urchin in his hair when Steve asks “What’s Star Wars?” 

“You don’t- ‘ _ What’s Star Wars’?”  _ Bucky repeats, flabbergasted. 

Steve fixes him with a very blank, very bland look that he’s learned manages to translate to each and every one of his friends the message of  _ ‘Oh I’m so sorry I spent my life in the ocean and don’t know every land dweller’s cultural touchstones after a year and some change with legs.’ _

Bucky picks up on that look better than most and looks appropriately shamefaced though Steve can’t handle the sight of him looking that way for more than about half a second and leans up to kiss the look off his face. 

“Explain Star Wars to me,” Steve says, dragging the chalkboards and all its multicolored chalk towards himself as he settles in at the nearest table to start working on that day’s sign, “I already know it’s a movie and that it’s set in space, though why anyone would want to be in  _ space  _ is beyond me.” 

“Why anyone would- Steve, it’s  _ space.  _ Why wouldn’t anyone want to go to space?” Bucky asks, sliding his tablet in front of Steve with a google image search for the Star Wars logo pulled up like he’s already anticipating Steve’s desire to copy the typography onto the boards. 

“I dunno Bucky, maybe the lack of water. The lack of oxygen. The many many ways one can die in space.  _ Black holes.”  _

“We agreed not to talk about black holes again,” Bucky says with the same sort of look of existential horror he gets on his face every time he thinks too hard about black holes. Steve thinks it’s adorable, though he doesn’t  _ really  _ mean to cause it. 

“You’re the one celebrating space,” Steve says, shrugging a little as he starts about the process of erasing the standard  **_WOLFSBANE BREW_ ** across the top of the board and carefully rewriting it in a font befitting of the theme, checking his work against Bucky’s tablet repeatedly. He pauses in his efforts, waving a piece of chalk, “Stop being horrified about black holes and tell me about the movie.” 

 

After about a dozen questions from Steve Bucky comes to the conclusion that Steve really just needs to start watching the movies and he declares that night to be an impromptu date night. Not that Steve minds that in the least because any excuse for a date with Bucky is a good one in Steve’s book. 

Which is how he ends up at Bucky’s apartment, working his way through his share of Chinese take out and watching what he’s been assured is ‘one of the greatest trilogies of all time, I’m serious Stevie.’ 

And Steve’s paying attention, really he  _ is,  _ but, well, Princess Leia is officially Steve’s favorite and she has  _ good hair  _ and Bucky  _ also  _ has good hair and by the time they’ve reached the halfway point Steve is entertaining a nice little image of Bucky  _ as  _ Princess Leia more than he’s actually paying that much attention to the movie. 

“Are you paying attention?” Bucky whispers, poking Steve gently in the cheek where he’d ended up with his head planted directly against Bucky’s chest the moment dinner was over with and has stayed there ever since. 

(Bucky sometimes says things like “You know I have pillows for a reason Steve?” and “You realize I’m a werewolf, not a piece of furniture?” but he never  _ actually  _ seems to mind.) 

“Yes,” Steve lies and then he’s jerking up with what is a truly enlightened idea and a “Pause the movie!” 

 

They resume the movie when Steve has settled back behind Bucky with a comb, some rubber bands and about a hundred bobby pins. 

Bucky puts up with Steve’s ministrations in a way that very much does not seem like suffering judging by the way Bucky arches his whole back and then goes almost boneless while Steve combs through his hair for much,  _ much  _ longer than is really needed. 

Steve doesn’t think he’ll ever be sure how he got quite so lucky to find someone like Bucky who lets him do this, but he’ll never stop being glad he did. 

“I’m gonna put it up now,” Steve murmurs, splitting the hair down the middle and pressing a kiss to the now exposed nape of Bucky’s neck. 

Bucky hums his assent and Steve pulls half of Bucky’s hair into a ponytail just above his ear before repeating with the other half. He smooths his fingers through tail of hair, having long since come to the conclusion that if Bucky’s dating him that means Steve is very much allowed to indulge his urges to touch Bucky’s hair pretty much as much as he wants. And then, when he can draw it out no longer he twists each side, wraps it around itself and secures it with more pins than is probably required. 

Steve maybe has some plans for after the movie marathon and there’s not much more that Steve likes in life than getting to take Bucky’s hair  _ down  _ after being the one to put it up and if he wants to add more pins to draw that process out than he is perfectly allowed to. 

“All done,” Steve says when he’s deemed his work perfect, cueing Bucky to feel at the buns with careful fingers before twisting around to plant a kiss on Steve’s lips. 

“It’s great Steve,” Bucky says when they’ve settled back again, Bucky leaning back against Steve’s front.

Bucky’s bigger than Steve, enough so that maybe it’d make more sense if their positions were reversed, and Steve certainly does enjoy it the other way, but he also likes it just like this. Bucky’s head back on Steve’s shoulder where Steve press his chin against Bucky’s shoulder, where he can toy with Bucky’s fingers easily or slip his hands under Bucky’s shirt and scratch absent fingers against the soft fuzz of Bucky’s stomach. 

It’s good. 

Good enough that Steve raises no objections when Bucky moves them onto the next movie.

Good enough that Steve drifts off partway through, Bucky draped over him like the world’s best and warmest blanket, and only wakes when strong arms are slid underneath him, carrying him into Bucky’s bedroom. 

“What happened to Han Solo?” Steve murmurs as Bucky deposits Steve into the bed and crawls in after him. 

“I’ll tell you in the morning,” Bucky whispers, pressing his lips to Steve’s shoulder as Steve scootches closer, wrapping himself around Bucky like a particularly clingy octopus, “Go back to sleep.” 

“I had  _ plans,”  _ Steve insists, with vague thoughts of unwrapping Bucky's hair from their buns but he’s already drifting again, sleep enveloping him as easy as Bucky’s arms do. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come scream with me at @attackofthezee on twitter. Also feel free to drop me some prompts for these lil ficlets!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, how on earth did you and Sam meet anyway?” Carol asks one day when they’ve all ended up crowded around two tables pushed together at one of their usual places and Steve’s watching Bucky clearly mentally debating the merits of ordering every appetizer on the menu while Steve absentmindedly plays with the fingers of his left hand.
> 
> “Well,” Sam starts, already looking like he’s thrilled to tell this story, “Steve here was an idiot-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello it's day five of MerMay and I'm still doing this thing even though I had to write most of this after Game Of Thrones. BE PROUD OF ME EVERYONE. 
> 
> Inspiration for this one is thanks to partlycharlie who said "oh man i just thought of this how did steve meet sam?????" and made my brain decide this was necessary.

“So, how on earth did you and Sam meet anyway?” Carol asks one day when they’ve all ended up crowded around two tables pushed together at one of their usual places and Steve’s watching Bucky clearly mentally debating the merits of ordering every appetizer on the menu while Steve absentmindedly plays with the fingers of his left hand. 

“Well,” Sam starts, already looking like he’s  _ thrilled  _ to tell this story, “Steve here was an idiot-” 

“I was  _ not-”  _ Steve interrupts, “I just hadn’t thought too hard about what I would do when I came to the Above.” 

“Right. He was being a reckless idiot, which is why he’s lucky he met me.” 

“Correction, you were lucky to meet _me,_ Wilson,” Steve argues, but the whole table ignores him in favor of focusing their attention on Sam. 

“Go on,” Val says, gesturing for Sam to continue while Thor joins them with a tray full of pints and starts passing them around. 

Bucky snags two and passes one to Steve like he always does. Steve takes a drink like he always does, wrinkles his nose at the taste of beer, like he  _ always  _ does and then passes it down to Clint with a “There are so many more delicious things in the world and you drink  _ this? Land dwellers.”  _

“Okay now that Steve’s judged us, I can continue. So Steve, as we have established was being an idiot,” Sam says and Steve, for once, lets the sentiment stand, “And it was what, Steve, your first day on land?” 

“First hour actually,” Steve corrects. 

“Right. Okay. First hour. And I’m on a flight-” 

“Which was terrifying by the way. Big dude comes flying  _ at me  _ with wings. I’d never seen an angel-” 

“Part angel.” 

“ _ Whatever.”  _

“ _ So I’m on a flight,”  _ Sam says, “And I see this naked dude stumbling up out of the water-” 

“I’m a  _ mermaid,  _ it’s not like I came fully equipped with clothes,” Steve argues and Sam shoots him a look. 

“You gonna let me tell this story Rogers?” 

“I would if you could tell it correctly,” Steve says and when Sam groans Steve grins so hard he feels his cheeks ache a little with it. 

“ _ Anyways.  _ I saw a naked dude stumbling up out of the water and I figure I oughta help y’know? We all hear the stories as kids so I figured he was either a mermaid or a selkie-” 

_ “A selkie,”  _ Steve huffs, all offense and Bucky pats at his head consolingly. 

“So I  _ figured-”  _ Sam continues pointedly, shooting Steve a look, “That I oughta help the poor dude out. Help him find wherever he’s going.” 

“Only I wasn’t really going anywhere,” Steve says  _ helpfully _  and Sam gives him a very good ' _I was getting to that'_ look . 

“Exactly. The dumbass had nowhere to go, just showed up with two legs and no plan-” 

“It worked out didn’t it?” 

“Yeah, alright,” Sam says, not necessarily humoring but close enough that Steve feels the need to  _ argue it.  _

“It  _ did.  _ My no plan plan worked out great. I met you and everyone else and everything went  _ great.”  _

“Yeah, a real master tactician you are,” Sam teases but he sounds immeasurably fond and Steve smiles bright and easy at his best friend and not for the first time is glad that Sam was the one to come across him first. 

“Where’s our waitress?” Loki breaks in, “If you idiots are going to be sentimental I’d like to do it over some sort of fried cheese product.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT, come scream with me about things @attackofthezee on twitter. Also leave me more prompts for this thing if you wanna, I'll be here all month.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “How do werewolves do what?” Natasha asks, manning Bucky’s remote, flicking through youtube videos one after another, clearly searching for something though what, Steve doesn’t know.
> 
> “I mean, mermaids court, fae kidnap-”
> 
> “We don’t kidnap, we have The Hunt-”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A day late, here's the sixth one of these babies. Technically this doesn't have a prompt, but also technically someone once asked me to explain how courting for werewolves worked and I promised I would so this is kind of that.

“How do werewolves do it?” Steve finds himself asking sometime in the cozy days of fall after he and Bucky start properly courting. 

He’s made a home of Bucky’s couch, Natasha’s feet tucked under his thighs while she shows him cat videos on youtube and Bucky makes dinner.  

“How do werewolves do what?” Natasha asks, manning Bucky’s remote, flicking through youtube videos one after another, clearly searching for something though  _ what,  _ Steve doesn’t know. 

“I mean, mermaids court, fae kidnap-” 

“We don’t  _ kidnap,  _ we have The Hunt-” 

“ _ Even Selkies _ give their skins-” 

“ _ Seriously,  _ what is your problem with selkies?” Bucky interrupts from the kitchen at Steve’s judgmental tone, proving that werewolf hearing is definitely a thing and Bucky is definitely listening to Steve and Natasha’s conversation. 

“-What do werewolves do?” 

“The Hunt isn’t kidnapping. It’s protected under the Accords of 1392,” Natasha says, clearly not willing to let this particular argument go just yet, brandishing the Roku remote at Steve like it’s a knife. 

“Right. Because we trust all laws made by magical folk in the 14th century?” Steve’s still not as well versed on land dweller politics as he feels he should be, but he did spend a solid two weeks buried under stacks of history texts from the library and getting concerned looks from Sam. He’s come to the very sane and logical conclusion that for most of history, the people in charge have been  _ giant dicks.  _

Natasha digs her toes up and into the underside of Steve’s thighs in clear punishment for what is  _ clearly _ a very good point and then huffs at him. “Why don’t you ask, oh, I don’t know Rogers, your werewolf boyfriend about this?”

“Right. I’ll just go and ask ‘Hey Buck, what’s the werewolf specific path to long term partnership slash werewolf marriage because I’m doing my version over here and I want to find out if this is reciprocal.’ That sounds  _ great.  _ No thanks.” 

"Thank you for reaching that conclusion, Steve," Bucky says from the kitchen, light and easy and proving that he’s definitely still listening but he also doesn’t  _ care  _ that Steve and Natasha are talking about him in another room, "I'd really rather Nat explain it instead of having to go through that awkwardness myself."

“You’re both children,” Natasha says with a sigh and Steve would point out the fact that she can’t exactly talk when her tongue is still blue from the ring pop she was eating not twenty minutes ago, but that feels a little mean. 

“You’re tongue is literally  _ blue, _ ” Okay, maybe not  _ too  _ mean, “Now tell me what I need to know Romanoff.” 

“I’m not an expert,” Natasha warns and Steve rolls his eyes as dramatically as one of the teenagers he’s seen in the sitcoms that Nana Wilson insists he watches with her but that Steve secretly loves with a passion he previously only reserved for really shiny things found buried in the hardest to reach spots.

“You claim you’re an expert on everything. You don’t get to backtrack now.” 

“They’re not that different from you,” Natasha says,  _ finally  _ getting to the point. “Displays of intent, Bucky’s definitely done that. Gifts too, usually consisting of things that prove how good a provider they’ll be. Also done that. Slowly folding you into his pack by introducing you to packmates or close personal friends. You’ve met me. You’ve met his sisters. So there’s that down too. I’d say it’s safe to say it’s reciprocal, Flounder.” 

Steve’s torn between preening at the fact that Bucky is definitely, Natasha confirmed, reciprocating and arguing about the newfound nickname. He settles instead, for voicing a different question. 

“And uh, what’s the end goal of werewolf… courting? Werewolf dating?” 

“I mean, they’re wolves, so generally it ends in mating for life,” Natasha says, and suddenly Steve’s pretty sure he can hear the ocean in his ears, as loud as when it hits the cliff in a raging storm. 

“ _ Right.”  _ Steve says and it doesn’t come out squeaky and breathless like all the air has been punched from Steve’s lungs, it  _ doesn’t,  _ he doesn’t care what Natasha insists later. 

“Rogers, stop that. You’ll have an asthma attack and Bucky’ll blame me for days.” 

“I will,” Bucky agrees and Natasha glares in the direction of the kitchen door.

“Either join the conversation or stop interrupting,” Natasha tells Bucky, and then, “ It’s not a big deal. That’s why  _ you’re  _ courting him right now, isn’t it? To see if you want the whole fish pond or whatever weird ocean term you’d use for it with him. I thought that was how it worked for mermaids.”  

Which is… okay, it’s a good point. That  _ is _ why Steve’s doing this whole courting thing. Steve had just gotten caught up in the ‘ _ mating for life’  _ aspect of it. Courting for mermaids leads to something a lot like a human  _ marriage _ . It’s not really a lifetime,  _ there’s no other options if this doesn’t work out _ sort of commitment. 

“And how does it work. The mating for life thing?” 

“It’s-” Natasha cuts off with a rough noise, running a hand through her hair. Steve’s a little surprised by the display of frustration. Natasha’s not as unemotional with her friends as she is with the general public, but she’s still fae, she’s still not a fan of being seen as anything but highly competent, “It’s a mating bite sort of thing. There’s a bond. But it’s… Look, werewolves mate for life, but it only goes the one way. You’re affected by it and a part of it, but you can break it and leave. If Bucky gives a mating bite that’s it. He doesn’t get another shot. You can see why it’s something that needs a little more thought than exchanging clamshells and asking for the blessing of Athena or whatever.” 

" _ That’s not how we do it,”  _ Steve insists and then “ _ I wouldn’t,”  _ and then "I wouldn't leave him, I lo-" Steve breaks off and hears the sound of a thump and swearing from the kitchen. 

Natasha rolls her eyes at them both. 

"Save that one for him, Rogers. I’m not the one you need to say it too.” 

“He’s eavesdropping in the kitchen I wasn’t gonna tell him like  _ this,”  _ Steve says, a little indignant because there are so many other,  _ better  _ ways to tell Bucky he loves him than by way of Natasha. Dramatic,  _ spectacular  _ ways. Ways to  _ remember.  _

(It’s safe to say that Steve’s impulsiveness means he doesn’t end up saying it for the first time in any sort of spectacular way, but really, that’s a story for another day.) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come yell with me about things on twitter @attackofthezee


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So, _right_ , mermaids are truly and _deeply_ weird and Sam is aware of this. It’s why it’s not as surprising as it should be when Steve faceplants into Sam’s couch after his first day at the coffee shop and says- with all the drama of Sam’s 15 year olds sister- _“I’m in love.”_
> 
> “You’re not in love,” Sam says, which is, coincidentally, what he’d told his fifteen year old sister.
> 
> “I _am_ ,” Steve insists, which is, much to Sam’s dismay, exactly what his sister said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy day eight of Mermay. We're on this train and we are apparently not getting off of it, especially considering some of the great prompts my ass has been given. 
> 
> This one goes out to partlycharlie for saying "next up iiiiiiiiiis sdhwjfhshkw do Steve's earlier courting gifts from Bucky OR SAMS perspective ajdjdhfvsjjdjsfj"

The thing about being best friends with a goddamn mermaid is that mermaids are fucking _weird._

Sam suspects that all sea based magical folk are weird as fuck, but he also suspects that mermaids are truly the weirdest. Sam hasn’t heard any instances of batshit behavior from his friends that know selkies. (Though he has heard some truly bonkers shit about ondines and nereids _so.)_

So, _right_ , mermaids are truly and _deeply_ weird and Sam is aware of this. It’s why it’s not _as_ surprising as it should be when Steve faceplants into Sam’s couch after his first day at the coffee shop and says- with all the drama of Sam’s 15 year olds sister- _“I’m in love_.”

“You’re not in love,” Sam says, which is, coincidentally, what he’d told his fifteen year old sister.

“I _am_ ,” Steve insists, which is, much to Sam’s dismay, exactly what his sister said.

“Who are you in love with?” Sam asks, changing track because arguing with Steve is like arguing with a brick wall. A brick wall that has sharp teeth and too many opinions.

“ _Bucky,”_ Steve says like this is truly devastating, lifting his head to look at Sam with his dumb tragic white boy mermaid eyes.

“Steve, that’s your _boss.”_

“So?”

“I don’t know how things work in Atlantis or where the fuck ever mermaids live-”

“Wherever we-”

“Yeah yeah, wherever you want, I got that, but no matter how it works there, shit’s different here. We don’t fuck our bosses on land. Or at least we’re not supposed to.”

Sam hopes for all of three seconds that his words will actually settle into Steve’s head, but it’s as hard as a damn rock so he’s not surprised whatsoever when Steve does a very dramatic sort of shrugging thing and throws himself out across the couch again.

“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” Steve says finally, as though it’s the end of any argument on that, and Sam spends several long seconds reminding himself that Steve has been on land for all of six months and it would be rude to shake him.

“Yeah, okay, try to bone your boss, I’m sure that’ll go great.”

“Thanks,” Steve says earnestly, “I’m sure it will.”

And okay, Sam could be annoyed, or claim that he has the patience of an entire caste of angels, but really, Steve’s whole fish out of water thing is freakishly endearing.

 

It’s slightly less endearing when months later Steve drags him to the beach and makes Sam watch his shit while he disappears into the water like an overgrown fish.

Sam’s always a little shocked by the transformation that happens when Steve lets that side of himself loose because the dude’s fucking _tiny_ in their everyday lives, but the tail apparently comes with a full on fucking glow up as Steve turns into a goddamn mountain of a man.

So Sam watches the weird moment where between one breath and the next Steve changes and then, he whips out his phone and settles into the sand to wait for Steve’s ass to come back.

 

He must doze at some point, because he only wakes to get Steve and him home and then he’s crashing into bed and only _really_ waking when Steve thrusts a goddamn shell into his face.

“It’s a shell,” Sam says dubiously.

“A _very_ good shell,” Steve says and he looks far too proud of his gift for Sam to ever tell him how weird it is.

“Right. A very good shell. I’m sure he’ll love it pal.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come yell with me on twitter @attackofthezee


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve meets Bucky’s sisters only a few weeks into courting when they all three tumble in through the doors of the shop with the express -and very loud- purpose of meeting their idiot brother’s new boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YA'LL @deisderium [ MADE THE BEST ART FOR THIS SERIES!](https://twitter.com/deisderium/status/1126458698371616769?s=20) Follow that link and go check it out on twitter, I'm IN SUCH AWE AND SO AMAZED AT THE SHEER TALENT OF THE PEOPLE I GET TO CALL MY FRIENDS IN THIS FANDOM. 
> 
> Prompt is the fact that Catzbloom on twitter said “what about Steve meeting Bucky’s extended pack? Has Bucky been doing a lot of I’M MADLY IN LOVE werewolf moves that Steve doesn’t recognize? Does Bucky’s family notice and Steve is like Ooooh? Just something exploring werewolf norms from a non-were POV!” This is maybe not exactly that, but it does involve Bucky’s family SO I’m deciding it counts.

Steve meets Bucky’s sisters only a few weeks into courting when they all three tumble in through the doors of the shop with the express -and very _loud-_ purpose of meeting their idiot brother’s new boyfriend.

“So you’re the mermaid,” One of them says.

“We’ve heard _so much_ about you,” One of the others says.

“Yes,” The last one agrees, “So, _so_ much.”

They’re all smiling a little like sharks. Or maybe even something even more predatory, something that Steve would find down in the deep, in the places even his mother told him not to go.

“ _Becca_ , Alice, Abigail,” Bucky says as he emerges from the back, Steve’s rescue boat from on high, “don’t torture the poor guy.”

“We’re not torturing anyone,” Becca insists and Bucky looks about as disbelieving as Sam does whenever Steve insists on something contrary to what’s _actually_ happening.

Steve makes a mental note to apologize to Sam by bringing home his favorite sushi because Steve’s not sure he likes that sort of insistence turned against him, honestly.

 

Despite the initial bumps, meeting Bucky’s sister doesn’t _actually_ go horribly. That however doesn’t mean that meeting the rest of Bucky’s family doesn’t make him feel like he’s been caught by a rip tide and tumbled around until he feels sick when it comes up a few months later.

“So. Your whole pack. Everyone. Is going to be there,” Steve says on the subway ride there. There’s a siren singing scales a few feet down the car and Steve pauses his anxiety just long enough to shoot her a judgmental look for not respecting _basic public transportation etiquette._

“Yes Steve. _Everyone_ is going to be there,” Bucky confirms, sounding like it’s not the end of the world, like he doesn’t understand why Steve is _freaking out here._ Or maybe he does, because he follows it all with, “Seriously, stop worrying so much. They’re going to love you. I know it.”

 

They love Steve.

Or at least, Steve loves them enough that he really wants to refuse to believe anything else but that.

Winifred Barnes is a wisp of a woman with grey tinged hair piled atop her head in hectic waves that remind Steve of seaweed and a smile that’s identical to her son’s. Steve is enamored with her almost the moment she opens her mouth to welcome him while dragging him into the seat beside her.

There’s others gathered around her, a tall man with Bucky’s sharp eyes who introduces himself as George, Bucky’s father, and a couple of Bucky’s aunts, a few of his cousins, one with a baby slung on her hip and another who keeps glancing to where the children are playing.

Pods aren’t _always_ as small as Steve’s was growing up, but his had been on the extremely small side comparatively and the amount of people around feels overwhelming in the sheer scope of noise and exuberance that everyone seems to manage when they get together.

Bucky had gotten caught up by one of his cousins when they’d slung a long tanned arm around Bucky’s shoulders and dragged him into their side, starting up chatter right away and leaving Steve to be interrogated. They tackle his life and growing up and how he and Bucky met and what he enjoys doing in his free time and everything else under the sun that Bucky’s family apparently wants to know.

Steve can’t particularly blame them for wanting to have as much information as they can. He’d be protective of Bucky too.

And then, blessedly, before Steve can get a chance to answer _yet another_ question, Bucky slides into the spot beside Steve, squishing their sides together shoulder to hip and dropping a plate filled to the brim with food into Steve’s lap.

“Thought you might be hungry,” Bucky says, eyes crinkled up with his smile in the way that makes Steve always want to put his mouth there, “And like you might need saving too.”

“ _Y_ _es, thank you,”_ Steve says at the same time Winifred says “We’re just having a nice discussion. _”_

“Mmhmm, sure, just a discussion,” Bucky agrees in the same tone he uses when he’s humoring Steve on something ridiculous, “Did she ask you for medical records yet?” Bucky asks, something teasing in his tone that makes his mother roll her eyes fondly.

“No, but I do think she’s somehow wormed every embarrassing moment I’ve ever had out of me” Steve says, preening a little when Bucky takes the chance to rub his nose against Steve’s shoulder, and then his cheek, before pressing a kiss there.

“What happened to ‘ _mermaids are a dignified species, we don’t get embarrassed?’”_ Bucky asks in what is honestly just a really terrible imitation of Steve and not at all accurate.

“I still stand by that statement,” Steve insists, opening his mouth to argue further when Bucky takes that moment to shove a bite of food into it. Steve frowns, but then he chews and swallows because _well,_ it’s _food_ and it’s _good_ _._ Crispy and a little oily on the outside and soft on the inside, a little sweet and a little salty. All good things. “Oooh that’s good. What is that?”

“Tostones. Fried plantains. Should we add them to the list?” Bucky’s already pulling out his phone even as Steve nods his agreement to putting it on the _Foods Steve Likes On Land_ list that’s accumulating on Bucky’s phone. There is also a _Foods Steve Hates And Never Wants To See Again_ list though it is significantly longer.

There’s the sound of Winifred gently clearing her throat and both Steve and Bucky jump as though having completely forgotten that there were other people there that need interacting with.

There’s a knowing look on Winifred’s face that Steve doesn’t know her well enough to decipher, but that Bucky apparently recognizes well enough judging by his groan when it turns on him.

“Ma, _don’t.”_

Winifred raises her hands, and says “I didn’t say _anything_ ,” with the same sort of innocent expression on her face that Steve’s sure is on his when Bucky finds him eating leftovers straight out of the fridge at 3 in the morning. “If I _were_ to say something though, which I won’t, but if I _were_ , it would be to say that judging by the two of you I’m assuming we’ll be seeing Steve at family events from now on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello come scream with me about werewolves and mermaids and Steve Rogers and all manner of other things on twitter @attackofthezee


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s every cold that goes around. It’s every flu that even comes in Steve’s direction. He seems to fucking catch them all.
> 
> It drives Bucky _insane_. Not in the way where he expects Steve to do anything about it, but in the way where Steve is Bucky’s- is his _future mate_ if Bucky has anything to say about it and the fact that he’s helpless to fix it?
> 
> It just doesn’t sit right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy tenth of MerMay and happy friday. the prompt for this is basically that I was gonna do something else but then I got sick and decided what I wanted to write was Bucky Barnes taking care of his sick boyfriend for 900 words.

Bucky’s not sure he’s ever met anyone who gets sick even half as much as Steve does. 

It’d be one thing if it was just being accident prone, because, well, Bucky’s grown up with Clint Barton in his life, a man who despite being an elf and therefore supposed to be- at least according to all the little tidbits anyone manages to gain about the assholess- graceful,  is an actual certified disaster. But it’s not just that. It’s not just a trip down the ladder when he’s hanging up a sign or a dumbass decision made with Clint that results in a broken bone because he and Steve are a terrifying combination, 

No. 

It’s every cold that goes around. It’s every flu that even comes in Steve’s direction. He seems to fucking catch them all. 

It drives Bucky  _ insane _ . Not in the way where he expects Steve to do anything about it, but in the way where Steve is Bucky’s- is his  _ future mate  _ if Bucky has anything to say about it and the fact that he’s helpless to fix it? 

It just doesn’t sit right. 

So maybe,  _ just maybe, _ Bucky goes a little crazy when he gets Clint to come in to cover the coffee shop and then shows up at Steve and Sam’s apartment with several bags of supplies. 

“I’ll be fine, Buck,” Steve insists, half incomprehensible through his stuffy nose and the three blankets Bucky’s wrapped him in, propped up on the couch facing Bucky where he’s chopping vegetables in the kitchen.

“Sure you are,” Bucky agrees easily, “But you’ll be ten times better once you drink the tea I gave you and eat the soup I’m making. These recipes are all Barnes tested and approved, they’ll work.” 

“I don’t think that’s science,” Steve says, and attempts to look serious but ends up interrupting his own serious expression with a hacking cough that very much ruins it. 

“You can’t bring science into home remedies Steve,” Bucky says, and then “Now drink your tea and lay back down.” 

 

Later, much later, after Bucky has dosed Steve with an old fae remedy that Natasha gave him and Steve’s slept for a good few hours while Bucky worked on the soup, Bucky curls himself around Steve and nuzzles at his jaw. He’s very blatantly listening for Steve’s heartbeat, to his lungs, trying to gauge just how bad this bout of the cold is.

“You’re gonna get sick,” Steve says finally, when the nuzzling has turned to Bucky grazing his lips along the fine skin of Steve’s throat. 

“Nuh-uh. I, unlike some people, have a functioning immune system.”

“It’s not my fault this body has a trade off and that trade off is the fact that it’s never been exposed to the common cold before a couple years ago,” Steve argues, very clearly pouting. 

“Want me to fight biology for you?” Bucky asks lightly. 

Steve doesn’t answer until after he’s very pointedly rearranged them until Bucky’s leaning against the arm of the couch and Steve can prop himself up against Bucky, his back to Bucky’s chest and Bucky’s arms looped around him. 

“I don’t think you can fight biology, Buck, sorry.” 

“Says the person here who would actually fight anything, whether it’s an intangible concept or not.” 

“That’s how this relationship works pal,” Steve says, lifting one of Bucky’s hands and kissing the palm, making Bucky feel like his chest has ballooned, too big for his body with one little gesture, “I fight things and you force disgusting tea on me when I get sick.” 

“Right,” Bucky agrees, rubbing his nose against the nape of Steve’s neck, scenting the spot almost absent mindedly, “Fighting and tea. The entire basis of our relationship.” 

“ _ Right,”  _ Steve says in that sort of ‘ _ you’re finally getting the point I’ve been making all along’  _ tone he gets so often, but anything else he might have said is lost in another coughing fit that has Steve twisting around to cough into Bucky’s chest. 

Bucky lifts one arm, letting Steve sort of settle into the spot between Bucky and the couch and when Steve finishes coughing he stays there, his head resting on Bucky’s chest as he make these sort of shuddering inhaling noises as he tries to get his breath back. It makes every atom of Bucky’s goddamn being want to  _ fix it  _ but there’s not much he can do other than rub a hand up and down Steve’s back in what he hopes is some sort of soothing rhythm. 

“Thanks,” Steve says, and then, “You know you don’t have to take care of me all the time right?” 

“I know.” 

“Just saying, you don’t gotta take a whole day off work and make me soup every time I catch a cold. I can get by on my own,” Steve says, and god, Bucky  _ loves  _ him but he’s an idiot about things like this. 

Bucky doesn’t know if self sufficiency in the face of things that make Steve feel weak is a  _ mermaid _ thing or a  _ Steve  _ thing, but either way it’s a thing Steve seems to have in spades. 

“I know, but the thing is, you don’t have to. If I  _ can  _ take a day off and force feed you soup and cold medicine and let your ass get snot all over me I’m damn well gonna. That’s called love, Steve.” 

“ _ Gross,”  _ Steve says in the way that means he thinks it’s actually the opposite of gross. 

“I know, it’s the worst,” Bucky agrees, and kisses the tip of Steve’s red nose. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> find me on twitter @attackofthezee where I yell about these idiots a lot.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It’s nice. Comfortable. Warm. Bucky could easily spend the rest of forever right where he’s at.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning that this one is ridiculously short because I'm very tired and I was like "man I should add more to this but I'm TIRED" and then I was like "wait, Elizabeth, you made this a FICLET and DRABBLE series for a reason. Just post the damn thing."

Here’s the thing, Bucky’s  _ pretty  _ sure that Steve understands that not all relationships work the way that relationships involving mermaids work. He really is.   

Steve just has a lot of feelings, on a lot of things, is the thing. And sometimes those things involve Steve frowning at Natasha and Clint because apparently fae/elven romance customs don’t operate in a way that Steve entirely understands. 

“They just don’t act like people who are  _ courting _ ,” Steve complains, smoothing a comb through Bucky’s hair while Bucky lays with his head in Steve’s lap. It’s nice. Comfortable _. Warm.  _ Bucky could easily spend the rest of forever right where he’s at. 

“I think they’re probably doing fine, Steve,” Bucky says, “Not all relationships work like ours. Some people do things differently.” 

“Well  _ yeah,”  _ Steve agrees, but it’s in the way where Bucky can sense the  _ but _ lingering there. 

“But?” 

“But our relationship  _ is _ pretty good right?” It’s the kind of question that Bucky expects to be rhetorical, but Steve’s eyebrows are sort of crinkled in the center, like he’s really,  _ truly,  _ checking to make sure. 

Which is dumb, because Bucky is so obviously happy with Steve that he’s surprised he hasn’t floated to the moon with it. It’s dumb enough that Bucky doesn’t even respond properly at first, curling a hand around the back of Steve’s neck and drawing him down until he’s curled over enough that Bucky can angle his head up and catch Steve’s mouth in a kiss.

“ _Yeah_ ,” He says when Steve breaks back, eyes bright and mouth rosy red, “Yeah, Steve. It’s _good.”_


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it turns out that mermaids as a people aren’t like, overly fussy when it comes to birthdays. Bucky has watched Steve observe holidays that are based on the moon, the tide and presumably some sort of innate inner mermaid ability with reverence and spectacle, but apparently birthdays aren’t a huge thing.
> 
> “It’s not a big deal,” Steve says when Bucky brings it up again while they’re drowsing on Bucky’s couch, Bucky’s head on Steve’s stomach and his feet hanging well past the arm of the couch, “It’s just a day.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's ficlet is thanks to FlerkJen aka @randomportion for asking "Would you be willing to show us how Bucky celebrates Steve’s birthday?"
> 
> Small warning that there is a very very brief mention of death relating to unborn and baby mermaids. It's very brief and not at all the focus but it is there! 
> 
> Also if anyone's curious, I'm the worst at timelines but I'm 99% sure this one is actually set during summer in the actual original fic!

Traditions, Bucky learns, are just as important to mermaids as they are to werewolves. 

Unfortunately for Bucky, he’s also learned that they don’t necessarily have the  _ same  _ traditions or for the same reasons. 

He learns this, of course, when he asks Steve when his birthday is and gets a shrug and an “I think it’s July.” 

“You  _ think  _ it’s July?” 

“There’s not really a direct comparison,” Steve says. 

Bucky stares. “...There’s  _ not?”  _

“What, you think mermaids are just using a gregorian calendar?” Steve asks in that sort of _ you know nothing landwellers  _ tone he gets sometimes. Which is  _ fine _ . Bucky’s pretty sure he prefers Steve’s  _ landwellers are silly and ridiculous  _ attitude to the times when he gets awkward and down on himself for not knowing something he thinks he  _ should  _ know. 

“...No,” Bucky says in a way that very much means  _ ‘I never really thought about it.’  _

“There’s conversions on the internet,” Steve says, giving Bucky’s head a little pat that turns into smoothing his fingers through Bucky’s hair and Bucky’s eyes going half lidded as he leans into the touch, “Besides, I don’t see what the big deal is. It’s just a birthday.” 

“ _ Just a birthday?”  _

 

So it turns out that mermaids as a people aren’t like, overly fussy when it comes to birthdays. Bucky has watched Steve observe holidays that are based on the moon, the tide and presumably some sort of innate inner mermaid ability with reverence and spectacle, but  _ apparently  _ birthdays aren’t a huge thing. 

“It’s not a big deal,” Steve says when Bucky brings it up again while they’re drowsing on Bucky’s couch, Bucky’s head on Steve’s stomach and his feet hanging well past the arm of the couch, “It’s just a day.” 

“It’s the day you were  _ born  _ though,” Bucky argues, frowning a little into the fabric of Steve’s t-shirt, “You should celebrate that.” 

“I’ve explained how families work, right?” Steve asks, and it feels a little like a non sequitur, but there’s a tone to Steve’s voice that Bucky has learned over the past few months, the sort that means ‘ _ I’m about to explain a thing about the ocean that isn’t always nice’  _ and so Bucky assumes this is going some place. 

“Yeah. You have pods. Yours was you and your ma, and sometimes your aunts and cousins, right?” 

“Yeah. They’re not really supposed to be that small,” Steve says, carding his fingers through Bucky’s hair, absently unknotting any tangles when he finds them, “Normally, if we’re born in the sea, we’re born in a clutch. The size varies, but there’s usually a lot of us. Ma was strong, but she wasn’t ever that healthy, so my clutch was real small.” 

“So not just you?” 

“Nah. Not just me. But it’s normal for not everyone to make it. Which is why it’s weird to celebrate just being born, because there’s a lot of luck required and you’ve got an awful lot to do  _ after _ to make it. Especially when you’re a Cold Water like I was.” 

“Is that why you’re such a stubborn ass?” Bucky teases. 

“Yes. That’s exactly why. It has nothing to do with my natural personality at all,” Steve says, and Bucky can hear the smile in his voice, the uptick from the slightly more solemn tone he’d used before. 

“Mmmh sounds suspicious considering your natural personality is a pain in my ass,” Bucky says, rucking Steve’s shirt up just enough that he can press his lips to the soft skin of Steve’s stomach. 

“You like when I’m a pain in your ass.” 

“ _ Obviously,”  _ Bucky says, rubbing his jaw along Steve’s stomach just enough that he can watch all the muscles jump when the scratchy hair of Bucky’s scruff rubs along the skin, “Now, about birthdays.” 

“What about ‘em?” 

“Well, we’re going to be celebrating yours obviously.” 

“Obviously,” Steve agrees, “I’ve heard that presents are a landweller custom.” 

“They are. Whole heaps of them.” 

“Well then, I  _ guess _ I can participate. Just this once,” Steve says as though attempting to sound  _ truly  _ long suffering and failing miserably at it. 

 

As it happens, when July 4th and Steve’s birthday rolls around, Steve is fucking  _ delighted  _ to celebrate the occasion. 

There’s more fanfare than Steve seems strictly comfortable with, but also Steve had somehow gone and befriended Tony goddamn Stark, goddamn technomancy  _ genius  _ and head of Stark enterprises, within his first year on fucking  _ land, _ so Bucky’s gonna go with that’s his own damn fault. 

They’re on a goddamn roof, the city spread out blow them and Bucky is warm and fuzzy and happy enough from wolfsbane brew, watching Steve across the roof, red cheeked and animated as he talks to Natasha. 

“I’m still pissed your boy didn’t let me know about the mermaid birthday bullshit sooner. I woulda done this last year,” Sam says from next to Bucky, handing him another drink. 

“You just gotta accept that I got ways of getting information out of him you never will,” Bucky says with a waggle of his eyebrows. 

Whatever Sam might say in retaliation disappears in the presence of Steve, suddenly in Bucky’s space with arms looping around Bucky’s waist and leaning up to smack a fruity alcohol flavored kiss to the corner of Bucky’s mouth. 

“I’ve been told there would be presents.” 

“Were you?” Bucky asks, feigning confusion, “I think you’ve been misinformed. I think we’re donating them.” 

“Hardy har har Barnes. I know you’re joking, but presents are a serious matter.” 

Bucky thinks of Steve a few months ago, offering Bucky a plant with a serious expression and an insistence that it was the perfect gift and thinks  _ yeah,  _ yeah, he’s realized they are. 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After more than a year of dating Steve is 110% confident in his and Bucky’s relationship.
> 
> _Really._
> 
> He _is._
> 
> Which is why when another werewolf rolls into the coffee shop and Bucky _hugs her_ like she’s familiar and _she touches Bucky’s hair?_ Well, when that happens, Steve is absolutely and completely fine with it. _Really._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY 13TH DAY OF MERMAY. Here have some jealous!Steve thanks to Pheylan who said:  
>  _OOOO! I have a prompt! Are either of the boys jealous? Could perhaps one or the other run into someone of their own species who flirts and makes their partner get a bit possessive even though it's obvious that there is no interest going on from our boy's side of thing?_
> 
> Ft Loki, Private Lorraine, and alluded to blowjobs!

After more than a year of dating Steve is 110% confident in his and Bucky’s relationship.

_Really._

He _is._

Which is why when another werewolf rolls into the coffee shop and Bucky _hugs her_ like she’s familiar and she _touches Bucky’s hair?_ Well, when that happens, Steve is absolutely and completely fine with it. _Really._

“Are you going to self immolate?” Loki asks, leaning against the counter next to Steve, “Because if you do I’d like to step out of the shop in time to not be collateral.”

“I’m not going to self immolate,” Steve mutters, twitching when the woman _touches Bucky’s shoulder._ Bucky seems to barely even notice the motion, showing her the display in the bakery cases and looking all shiny with pride.

Steve _loves_ when Bucky acts proud of this place, but he doesn’t appreciate when it’s to a werewolf with the equivalent of hearts in her eyes. She reminds Steve of a dumb lovestruck cartoon and then Steve feels guilty for even thinking such a thought about some poor woman who has very much not done anything to Steve other than have the smarts to realize that Bucky Barnes is a goddamn  _catch._

“I could trip her,” Loki says, “It wouldn’t take much. Just a little-” and he flicks his fingers in a sort of _y’know magic_ gesture.

“ _Loki, no,”_ Steve says emphatically and then, “Well, I mean, if you _wanted_ ,” and then “No, _no,_  really,  _don’t.”_

“Nobody ever lets me use my gifts for the greater good,” Loki says with a sigh as though the world truly is a trying place before turning and heading towards the back room, very clearly done with Steve’s weird _not jealousy_ thing.

“I don’t think tripping people with magic is the greater good Loki! I don’t think that’s how it works.”

“Tomato, tomahtoh.”

“That doesn’t even make _sense.”_

 

Before Steve can mull over whether he should have taken up Loki’s offer for _too long_ he’s being called over by Bucky who’s enthusiastically introducing Steve to ‘ _Lorraine from college.’_

The only thing that helps soothe Steve’s _not_ jealousy is that he seems even happier to introduce Steve, slinging an arm around Steve’s shoulder and introducing him as his _boyfriend._

Lorraine’s lips purse in displeasure in a way that Bucky is seemingly oblivious to but that Steve is _definitely_ aware of.

It’s dumb to be- well _not jealous,_ because Steve’s _not jealous,_ he would like to emphasize that, but it’s dumb to be _whatever_ Steve is because Bucky is very much not Steve’s _possession._ Steve is perfectly aware of that. Steve prefers it that way, even.

And their relationship is great! Solid! Steve loves Bucky and knows Bucky loves him back. But, well, when Steve is faced with a woman who is flashing giant neon signs of being into his boyfriend, who has shared experience in things that Steve can only ever really know about from movies? Well, he’s gonna feel _something_ about that. He’s pretty sure that’s reasonable.

“So you said you two went to college together?” Steve asks, striving to be friendly because he’s a good boyfriend dammit and he will absolutely shove any very definitely not jealousy feelings aside to interact with his idiot boyfriend’s former college buddy.

He _will._

If he nudges his nose against the spot on Bucky’s shoulder Lorraine had touched, rubbing back and forth in an imitation of scenting then that’s just his prerogative.

 

 

“What was today about?” Bucky asks later, when Steve has made himself comfortable in Bucky’s bed and Bucky is crawling in to join him.

“What was what about?”

“The Lorraine thing.”

“The Lorraine thing? There was no Lorraine thing. That was perfectly normal,” Steve insists, though maybe his tone goes a little higher than he means, a little more _defensive_ than he intends.

Bucky’s quiet for a moment, clearly working out Steve’s absolute bullshit, and then he’s rolling on top of Steve, looking down at him with something warm and amused playing over his features. “You were _jealous,”_ He says, sounding far too delighted by this. Steve wants to kiss the dumb, smug smirk off his face.

“ _I was_ _not,”_ Steve insists, then clears his voice and tries again, “I wasn’t. I had perfectly normal reactions to Lorraine attempting to hang all over you and you being an oblivious idiot about it.”

Okay. So maybe the second attempt wasn’t that much better than the first.

“You _were._ You were totally jealous,” Bucky says, and then, when Steve doesn’t reply, dips down to kiss him quickly, “You’re a moron.”

“That’s not how you reassure someone Buck,” Steve protests, even if the kiss did serve to leave him a little melty under Bucky, feeling a little like he’s soaking up Bucky’s warmth like a sunbathing seal on a particularly nice rock.

“It _is_ ,” Bucky insists, “And I didn’t even realize she was flirting until Loki told me.”

“ _Loki,”_ Steve mutters accusingly, hoping somehow the asshole just _knows_ that Steve is quietly cursing his name. For someone who claims not to care about anything he sure does _meddle._ “I know you didn’t. It wasn’t a big deal, really.”

“You’re allowed to be jealous, y’know.”

“I am?” And then because he _is,_ “No. I know. I _am.”_

“Right. You are. But you should know I didn’t notice because _you_ were right there,” Bucky says, dragging a kiss along Steve’s jaw, along his throat and lower.

“Yeah?” Steve asks, feeling a little breathless at the attention being paid to his clavicle.

“Oh yeah. In case you haven’t noticed I’m a little bit hopelessly in love with you,” Bucky says, and Steve goes positively soft and pliant at the scrape of Bucky's teeth along skin.

“I don’t know," Steve says, breathless and arching into Bucky's mouth on him, "I think I might need convincing.”

“Oh, I’ll give you _convincing_ Rogers,” Bucky says, and then, well, conversation sort of falls off as Bucky makes his way lower.

And it’s not like Steve wants Bucky to get it into his head that blow jobs solve all problems, but when it comes to this _not-even-really-a-problem_ problem? Well, it’s definitely a more than acceptable solution.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You don’t _understand_ , Nat, he’s-”
> 
> “Yes, I know, James. Beautiful. Weird. Fascinating. The most incredible thing you’ve ever seen. So far out of your league you don’t know how to handle it. Your employee. A superior creation clearly sent from above to torture you with his untouchable beauty. _I know._ You’ve told me all this before,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> zacharypay1_Alisa said "For a prompt, how about more of Bucky’s feelings regarding the new hire when Steve first started at the coffee shop!"  
> This is maybe not EXACTLY that but I couldn't help but take the chance to show that Bucky was just as big an idiot as Steve the WHOLE TIME.

“You don’t  _ understand,  _ Nat, he’s-” 

“Yes, I know, James. Beautiful. Weird. Fascinating. The most incredible thing you’ve ever seen. So far out of your league you don’t know how to handle it. Your employee. A superior creation clearly sent from above to torture you with his untouchable beauty. I  _ know.  _ You’ve told me all this before,” Natasha says, irritation seeping into her voice even as she pets at Bucky’s hair soothingly when he more or less throws himself into her lap. 

“I don’t think you’re taking this seriously,” Bucky mutters when he catches sight of Natasha fiddling with her phone one handed. 

“I’m documenting your stupidity,” Natasha says, tapping rapidly on her phone with just her thumb while her other hand continues it’s soothing motion through Bucky’s hair. She has a freakish ability to multitask. Bucky’s pretty sure she needs to be scientifically studied or something. 

“And by documenting you mean you’re sending all of this to Clint, right?” 

“ _ Correct _ ,” Natasha agrees, clearly unashamed even when Bucky gives her his best judgmental look. 

“I don’t see how my misery is entertaining.” 

“That’s because you’re the one miserable, James.” 

 

So it’s a problem. Steve Rogers is a  _ problem.  _

He’s delicate, with fine bird bones and a fluff of blonde hair that Bucky wants to  _ touch _ .

He’s also just, really,  _ frankly,  _ terrible at his job.

And somehow he leaves Bucky’s tongue feeling too big in his mouth and his palms strangely sweaty in a way that feels  _ far too much  _ like he’d felt around people he liked in highschool. 

It’s awful. It’s terrible. Bucky’s pretty sure he spends roughly 80% of his interactions with Steve just staring at Steve like a dumbass. The guy probably thinks he’s a giant weirdo. Or worse, a giant dick because he can't manage complete sentences around him half the time. 

“There’s a real simple way to fix this that isn’t staring at him like a weirdo while he counts the cash register,” Kate, a bratty high school kid that Clint somehow convinced him to hire, says and then blows a bubble with her gum right in Bucky’s ear. 

“You’re not supposed to chew gum on the clock,” Bucky says, attempting to keep  _ some  _ semblance of even the  _ idea  _ that this is his coffee shop and therefore he’s the boss. 

“Uh-huh,” Kate says and chews her gum louder, “And you’re probably supposed to ask people out instead of pining away like a loser when you’re an adult.” 

“You’re really rude for someone whose paycheck comes from me, you know,” Bucky says, and takes another chance at staring at Steve for a couple seconds. He’s wiggling just a little to the music that Bucky keeps on in the shop while he counts money, and Bucky has the strangest urge to plant his head right in the curve of Steve’s spine and just  _stay_ there. 

It’s  _ awful _ . 

“Also,” Bucky says, realizing he has a really good point for not following Kate’s advice. One that’s not even just the fact that she’s seventeen. “I  _ can’t  _ ask him out. He’s my employee Kate. It's unethical.” 

“All I’m saying is-” 

Whatever Kate was going to say, Bucky will never find out because it’s at that moment that the bell above the door jingles, one of their regulars walks in, and Kate physically throws herself down to hide behind the counter. 

“Oh yeah, you’re a real beacon of wisdom when it comes to embarrassing crushes, kid,” Bucky says, staring down at Kate while in the background Steve cheerfully greets America Chavez. 

“Yeah, I think I can safely say that this is a moment in my life I’m not gonna be very proud of later,” Kate admits. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You still visit though? The ocean, I mean?” Greer asks and Steve thinks he gets it. She’s _selkie_. Born of the sea as much as Steve is. Her child will be the same. In her place Steve thinks that it’d be important to him too that his child would have that.
> 
> aka in this ficlet Steve and Bucky adopt a selkie baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I missed yesterday but also this is 2k and took me two days to write so I feel like I can be excused for that. 
> 
> THIS IS BASED ON THREE DIFFERENT PROMPTS: __  
> runningsoul said "I love this and I also desperately need to know why Steve/mermaids in general dislike selkies so much"  
>  Hiagain said "Okay but what if Marley was a selkie. She was either a magical wish baby or adopted but Steve somehow becomes the doting father of a baby selkie and Bucky never lets him live it down. Steve affectionately calls her guppy and Bucky calls her puppy."  
> and partlycharlie said "did you already do When They Adopt Marley? i cant remember but i dont think you did and i want some HAPPY TEARS BICTH. IM HERE FOR IT" 
> 
> PLEASE ENJOY ALL THE ADOPTION GOODNESS AND ALSO THE OC THAT I PULLED OUT OF MY ASS BUT QUITE LIKE, GREER.

The adoption agent is a wood nymph who introduces herself as “Please, just call me Juniper,” with green tinging her pointed ears and a pile of rust colored curls atop her head and most of all, a warm, easy smile on her face when Bucky asks her if it’s _bad_ that he’d like to try their luck on adopting a newborn before looking into other options.

“Oh honey, _no,”_ Juniper says, “Every family is different and no one is going to judge you for wanting the whole experience.”

“ _See,”_ Steve says, watching as Bucky’s shoulders seem to untense, “I _told you.”_

“I get the feeling you should listen to him,” Juniper says, proving to Steve that she is clearly wise beyond her apparent years and also correct, “Now there’s just some things to go over and then we’ll get everything sorted to start the process…”

 

Steve and Bucky have both heard horror stories of the whole adoption process taking years, but it seems like it’s barely any time at all before Juniper is calling to tell them that someone likes their file and wants to meet them.

Steve likes to think that in all the years he’s been on land he’s gotten relatively used to being more or less a normal human being. He doesn’t stress out about normal human being interactions and he’s relatively good - in his opinion at least- at taking things as they go.

Meeting the mother of their possibly maybe-if-this-goes-well future child is the single most nerve wracking experience he’s ever had.

Even planning his _wedding_ wasn’t this anxiety inducing.

Juniper introduces them to Greer in a small cozy room at the agency.

She’s _young_. Incredibly so.

She’s also dressed in a leather jacket over her sundress that when Steve takes a proper look at it carries the very distinct appearance of seal skin.

Bucky very clearly notices it at the same exact moment Steve does because Steve gets a not as subtle as Bucky probably intends it elbow to his ribs and a look that warns Steve not to start any of his shit.

Steve makes a face back at him, silently attempting to communicate that while he holds a grudge against selkie-kind due to their thieving nature when it comes to the _very best_ sunning spots, he’s not about to start on his bullshit _here._ This is a _very clear exception._

Bucky shrugs back then laces his fingers through Steve’s and tugs him with him towards the oversized chair across from Greer.

They make their way through general introductions and Steve practically vibrates through all the normal small talk, the how are you’s (Good, good, everyone says _good.)_ and the what do you do’s (Bucky owns a bakery and Steve helps. “Though help is a _generous_ term,” Bucky says and Steve sticks his tongue out at him like the mature adult that he is. Greer’s in her second year of college, a fact that does something to ease the worry bubbling that she was one of the particularly unlucky selkies out there.) and _all of that._

He wants to _know._ He wants to know what _Greer needs to know._ God, he _needs_ to know whether this is the moment Bucky will get to stop tugging on Steve’s dumb heart strings with his wistful looks at families. If Steve can stop contemplating whether it would be worth it to speed this all up, to do it himself and go ‘full clownfish’ as Clint refers to it even if that means spending months itchy and weird and feeling like he’s in the wrong skin.

Greer seems to have gotten to the same point because she turns her focus solely on Steve and says “You’re one of two aquatic beings in the files I was given.”

Juniper, who hasn’t been actively contributing but has merely been watching the whole interaction, shoots Greer a look like maybe she wasn’t supposed to share that.

“I didn’t say _who_ the files were for,” Greer says, looking entirely unapologetic and shooting Steve a look that is familiar in the way that Steve’s own face is familiar to him. It’s the same sort of _‘Landwellers, jeeze’_ look he’s sure he sports _frequently._ Steve makes a commiserating noise and gives his best sort ‘eh, what can you do?’ shrug.

“I’m mer, yeah,” Steve confirms when Greer’s gaze fixes on him again, clearly waiting for him to say _something,_ “Cold Water. Lived there my whole life and only came topside a few years ago.”

“You still visit though? The ocean, I mean?” Greer asks and Steve thinks he gets it. She’s _selkie._ Born of the sea as much as Steve is. Her child will be the same. In her place Steve thinks that it’d be important to him too that his child would have that.

“Yeah. All the time. Traditionally we go a couple times in the summer and then for at least a few days in the winter, but we really go whenever I can make an excuse for it,” Steve admits, “Do you wanna see where we stay when we go during the winter?” Steve asks, already pulling his phone out to show Greer photos of the little house they stay in every winter.

 

They meet with Greer two more times before it’s official and papers are being signed and Steve and Bucky are suddenly showing off ultrasound pictures to anyone who will look while being knee deep in baby preparations with what feels like barely any time at all and somehow also _too much time_ until they’ll be bringing their baby home.

Steve stress cleans the entire apartment top to bottom in a fit of what everyone around him very quietly and mostly out of earshot is referring to as ‘ _nesting’_ and then he turns his attentions to the nursery.

Bucky puts together the furniture, because Steve has many skills on land but putting together furniture that comes in boxes that seem either far too small or far too big for what they actually contain is _not_ one of them.

So, Bucky gets to be the one to swear at vague instructions which leaves Steve to basically everything else to do with the decorating part of setting up the nursery.

“I want it to feel like _home_ for her,” Steve says, and Bucky nods, seeming to understand exactly what Steve means by that.

So they buy more paint than Steve thinks he’ll actually need, _just in case,_ and then Steve loses several days to painting the room in shades of blue and carefully painting jellyfish and schools of fish and anything else that occurs to him, including what he deems a particularly impressive giant squid on the walls.

“Isn’t blue supposed to be bad for sleep cycles or something?” Sam asks while Steve’s perched on a ladder, painting the view of the sun filtering through water from below on the ceiling.

Steve takes a chance to stretch a little bit of the crick out of his neck while also fixing a blank look on Sam where he’s sat on the floor eating Steve’s pizza.

“Right. Stupid question when it comes to marine life.”

“If you were part selkie do you think you’d like it?” Steve asks, gesturing towards the room as a whole. This is something that’s _important._ Something that requires a second opinion. Maybe even a third or a fourth.

“Yeah, Steve. _Yeah._ I think if I was part fish like you and her I’d like it.”

 

They get the call, the “hi, yeah, I’m having your baby, maybe you should come down to the hospital um, now-ish?” call at 3 in the morning.

The longest five hours of Steve’s life later and he’s watching a tiny, squirming, very red, very _loud_ baby get cleaned up and wrapped in a blanket then placed into Bucky’s arms.

There’s a brief moment where Bucky attempts to offer her to Greer and Greer shakes her head and then he’s tucking the baby in close, scenting her gently with little rubs of his nose against her soft cheeks and forehead.

Steve presses in close, tucked into Bucky’s front and the baby’s back, brushing fluttering hands over her head and her tiny hands and every bit he can reach with her in between them.

“She’s _perfect,”_ Bucky says, sounding practically breathless with it.

“She _is,”_ Steve agrees and he’s not crying, he’s _not,_ but his eyes are suspiciously red and wet and so are Bucky’s and he thinks that’s probably allowable considering they’re holding _their daughter._

 

They name her Marlowe. She’s healthy and happy and they can take her home as soon as she’s cleared to be exactly that.

Greer leaves before that.

“You know, the whole point of the open adoption is that you can call and visit whenever you want, okay?” Steve says as he walks her out to the waiting cab. Bucky’s still inside, guarding over Marlowe despite the fact that there’s a whole hospital full of people doing the same exact thing.

Steve can’t blame him. He has the worst urge to steal Marlowe away to an underwater cave deep deep down where no one can ever find them and the only thing that _really_ stops him is the fact that Bucky couldn’t go with him. Though he won’t lie, there was a solid five seconds where he contemplated finding a sea witch to remedy that.

“I know. And I’ll keep that in mind, but- I had a whole plan, a whole _life_ and I just want to get back to living that for awhile,” Greer says, tucking dark curls back behind her ear, “Thank you. I think she’s going to be so, _so_ happy with you.” And there’s something rough in her voice, something that Steve is nice enough to not point out because Greer’s been kind enough to not point out Steve and Bucky practically blubbering over Marlowe earlier.

“Thank _you,”_ Steve says, “You gave her to us. We wouldn’t have her- She-”

Greer wipes roughly at her eyes and then pokes at Steve, “Jeeze, Steve, with all the sentiment I’d think you’d assimilated and gone full landweller.”

“ _Never,”_ Steve swears, and then he’s wrapping Greer up in a hug that she returns, “Thank _you._ You did good. You did something _so good.”_

 

They take Marlowe home.

They take her home and it’s exhausting and terrifying and hands down the best thing Steve’s ever done in his life since the day he decided to swap his tail for a pair of legs and come topside. (And really, the legs thing only factors in because he wouldn’t be here, wouldn’t have _this,_ if he hadn’t done that first.)

Marlowe screams at all hours, and she looks perpetually angry at having been dragged into a world without her permission and Bucky, the _asshole,_ likes to claim she gets all of that from Steve no matter how much Steve argues that his genetics aren’t even a part of this all.

But sometimes, _sometimes,_ she’s quiet and peaceful and perfect and Steve, every single time, will know that he _should_ take a shower or nap or do anything that isn’t sitting there just staring at her, feeling like this body is too small to handle all the goddamn happiness that’s filling it.

 

Tummy time is an important thing. Steve has stacks of baby books, both on human babies and the various ocean dwelling beings’ babies and even a couple he managed to track down that are specifically on selkie babies. They all agree. Tummy time is _vital._

Tummy time however is a _hated_ endeavor. At least normally. Steve stumbles on the trick to it more or less on accident when he’s feeling half delirious with lack of sleep.

It turns out that if Steve climbs into the bathtub and shifts, letting the end of his tail flop out the end of the slightly too small bathtub, and then settles Marley onto his stomach so that her bottom half is in the water, she fucking _loves it._

It calms her down from damn near everything.

Which means that Steve uses and damn near abuses the trick and ends up spending _a lot_ of time in his bathtub. Which isn’t that bad all things considered. The bathtub trick works on him too, to be entirely honest.  

“We need a bigger tub,” Bucky says once when he comes home to find them there, Marley awake and alert and kicking her heels against the smooth blue scales of Steve’s tail while Steve plays with her teeny tiny hands.

“The _biggest,”_ Steve agrees and they fall quiet for a moment as Bucky settles onto the ground beside the tub, leaning over until he can tip his head against Steve’s.

“Your daughter is a selkie,” Bucky says, eyes bright and tired and teasing.

“Shut up,” Steve insists and directs his attention to Marley, “Do you hear your pops? He’s being rude to me again. See how I suffer?”

“You, Steve Rogers, mermaid, are the father to a _selkie.”_

“I would smack you if I wasn’t too busy holding _our child,”_ Steve says, lying, and Bucky, the great, big, love of Steve’s life and idiot that he is, rewards Steve’s lie with a quick kiss.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I’m disowning all of you,” Bucky says, pushing away from the table and his papers, bending backwards and cracking his spine dramatically, “My own flesh and blood, betraying me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have a short non-prompt inspired moment of domestic nonsense because I'm tired and soft. 
> 
> Also I stole the name Matteo from deisderium SO THANKS RENE, I WAS THIS CLOSE TO USING PACO TBH.

“I want to be a pirate,” Marley declares very seriously, seven years old and full of opinions these days.

“It has to be a character, guppy,” Steve says absently, scrolling through pinterest for ideas for costumes for Bucky's big geek convention _thing_ , “It’s for your pop’s big geek gathering, so you have to be something nerdy.”

“It’s not a big geek gathering,” Bucky argues, momentarily distracted from doing something with numbers that Steve is told is important to the general upkeep of running a coffee shop. 

“Right. It’s a big geek _convention_ ,” Matteo says, cross legged on the living room floor with homework surrounding him.

(When Marley was three Bucky had pressed kisses to Steve’s shoulder, had said “Baby. Sweetheart. _Dollface,”_ sweetening the words a little when he whispered, _"_ I want another.”

Steve had agreed. _Easily._ But not without the stipulation of “We’re going older this time. No babies. I like _sleep_ James Buchanan.”

Which is how they’d ended up with Matteo, who at the time had been six years old and skittish like a mouse instead of the wolf he is.

He’s almost ten now, growing fast and equally as quick to point out that very fact.)

“I’m disowning all of you,” Bucky says, pushing away from the table and his papers, bending backwards and cracking his spine dramatically, “My own flesh and blood, _betraying me.”_

Matteo snickers, and then, because Steve suspects he knows exactly what sort of reaction it will inspire in Bucky, says “We’re not your flesh and blood. We’re adopted.”

Bucky’s entire face is a picture of exaggerated surprise, his eyes comically wide, “You _are?”_ He asks, pitching his voice higher to really sell it before swinging his overly incredulous gaze onto Steve, “Steve, did you know that they’re _adopted?”_

“They are?” Steve asks, feigning bland confusion, “Huh. Coulda sworn we’d made them ourselves. My mistake.”

“Me too. I mean, we’ve got one werewolf,” and Bucky is swooping in, catching Matteo around the waist and slinging him over his shoulder before doing the very same to Marley, both of them shrieking and laughing as Bucky carries them over his shoulders like sacks of squirming potatoes, “and one sea monster. Clearly these are our children Steve.”

“I think so. We even put our last names on ‘em. Paper were signed, sealed, and delivered. Pretty sure that means they’re ours.”

“That’s definitely how that works,” Bucky agrees, flopping Marley off his shoulder and straight into Steve’s waiting arms.

She shrieks her laughter as she lands, apparently having all the faith in the world that Steve will catch her because he’s never not. Then she’s grabbing hold of his hair and his shoulder and clamoring to her feet, one foot on each of Steve’s thighs and she’s definitely too big to be using Steve as a jungle gym, but she’s also still just small enough that Steve will allow it as long as he can because he knows it’s almost _over._

“Dad,” She says gravely, ignoring Bucky and Matteo and their commotion behind her.

“Sea monkey,” Steve says just as gravely.

“I still want to be a pirate. Are there any nerdy space pirates?”

“Marlowe, _why?”_ Matteo says at the same time Steve says “Oh no, you’ve done it now,” and Bucky says " _Space pirates?_ Are there _space pirates?_ _Space!_   _Pi_ _rates_!”


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky’s big geek convention is always an _event_. At least for Bucky and Marley it is. Matteo and Steve take a different sort of approach to the whole thing. The approach that involves them spending most of their time in artist alley or the food court, or, occasionally, when the mood strikes, following Bucky and Marley around to take pictures.
> 
> Bucky calls it the lazy approach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi hello this one is technically a part two to yesterdays! Inspired very loosely by biblioworm saying "I now have this image of the two of them doing various gender swapped costumes for Halloween (and the odd convention, because Bucky would totally go and drag Steve along). Marley would make a very cute Ewok, I think." 
> 
> There are no ewoks here, but there is costumes!

Bucky’s big geek convention is always an  _ event.  _ At least for Bucky and Marley it is. Matteo and Steve take a different sort of approach to the whole thing. The approach that involves them spending most of their time in artist alley or the food court, or, occasionally, when the mood strikes, following Bucky and Marley around to take pictures. 

Bucky calls it the lazy approach. 

Matteo and Steve argue that point. Loudly. Though Steve’s half distracted from the arguing with taking pictures of Marley in her Han Solo costume because Marley had declared him the best of the space pirates that Bucky had outlined and movie marathoned with her. 

“You’re not even getting the full experience, you could be-” Steve abandons his picture taking and cuts Bucky off with a poke to the ribs before leaning into his space to kiss him on his dumb Catra painted face. Because, as they’ve found out this year, when you let your seven year pick your first day cosplay you end up as a fucking She-Ra character. 

“If we didn’t do it this way we wouldn’t be able to trade Marley back and forth,” Steve points out, feeling very reasonable for once, “Besides, Matteo and I have plenty of fun. Even without a highlighted and annotated schedule.” 

Marley even has a highlighted schedule, which she’d very proudly highlighted every single kid’s event that she wanted to go to on. Bucky’s going to turn their daughter into a giant nerd. 

Steve kind of can’t wait. 

“Alriiiiight,” Bucky says, sighing like Steve and Matteo are grave disappointments for their lack of enthusiasm for these things, a disappointment that Steve and Matteo cheerfully bear, “Go have fun with art and 18 types of fried food.” 

“We will. We plan to blow the con budget entirely on overly priced ice cream and french fries.” Steve says cheerfully, “Now, go have fun, and text me and Matteo when we need to take Marley.” 

“Alright, alright,” Bucky agrees, taking Marley’s hand firmly in his own before they venture into the crowds, “Say bye to Dad and Matteo, Marles.” 

Marley does and Steve bends down so that he can get a goodbye kiss to his cheek and tell Marley “Bye Sea Monkey. Go be the best scruffy looking nerf herder you can be.” 

 

“So, artist alley or food first?” Steve asks Matteo once they’re gone. 

“Food, then artist alley,” Matteo says after a moment of deliberation. 

“Good priorities. I like the way you think, kiddo,” Steve says, looping his arm around Matteo’s shoulders and tugging him into his side as they head towards the food court and the sweet sweet sight of people in full cosplay stuffing their faces with all manner of food court food. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It didn't make it into the ficlet but Steve and Matteo are definitely not cosplaying and Steve is definitely wearing a The Little Mermaid shirt ironically.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re the one who wanted kids,” Steve says.
> 
> “In my defense, I didn’t think about the part where they become-” Bucky gestures vaguely.
> 
> “Teenagers?”
> 
> “I was thinking monsters, but yeah, close enough.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MOAR FAMILY NONSENSE.

When you have two werewolves, a mermaid, and a selkie in your family beach weekends turn into an adventure. 

When your werewolf son and selkie daughter turn into teenagers, when they  _ really  _ start to embody the most painful part of adolescence, it becomes an even bigger adventure. It also becomes an exercise in patience to even get them out of the city and to the beach. 

“I was supposed to study with friends,” Marley says, her nose practically pressed against her phone as Steve steers her toward the car. 

“And the guys wanted to practice,” Matteo chimes in, receiving the same sort of treatment that Marley is but from Bucky. 

“You’re smart enough that you can go a weekend without studying. And if it’s that important you can bring your books with you,” Steve says, “As for the practice. Bucky, you come up with a reason for why Matteo doesn’t need to practice this weekend. I grew up in the ocean. We didn’t have garage bands there.” 

It’s an excuse to not handle that particular issue and the look Bucky shoots Steve lets him know he knows it. Steve shrugs unapologetically. He’s not going to be the one to explain that while they approve of their sons hobby, he is absolutely not devoting family beach weekend to spending 5 hours in someone’s garage playing what they swear is music but that frankly, Steve is not sold on. 

Steve loves Matteo. Steve even loves Matteo’s friends even though they refuse to refer to themselves as anything other than The Wolf Pack and stained Steve’s bathroom to the point of no return in the midst of a hair dye adventure last winter. Steve, however, will not be blinded by his love of them to the point of thinking their band is in any way shape or form  _ good.  _

“I grew up in the ocean isn’t an excuse for everything, Steve,” Bucky says. 

“You’re right. It’s just a great excuse for  _ most  _ things,” Steve says and smiles his best, fakest, sweet smile at Bucky that has him rolling his eyes fondly at Steve. 

And then they’re at the car and with minimal griping from the peanut gallery are actually getting loaded up and on the road. 

 

Seemingly as soon as they’re actually  _ at  _ the beach, all reluctance to go on the trip vanishes. 

Matteo and Marley both dart from the car and towards the house they rent when they go on these trips in an effort to claim the best bedroom for themselves. 

“I called first dibs!” Matteo yells as Marley shoves under his arm to push past him on the steps up to the house, slippery like an eel. 

“First dibs don’t matter!” Marley argues as Matteo attempts to drag her back by the seal skin she wears tied around her waist in the same sort of way teen girls tie flannel shirts and hoodies there. Marley lets out a sort of aborted, half shrieking noise and jerks the skin out of Matteo’s grip, “You know you’re not supposed to touch my skin! DADS HE TOUCHED MY SKIN!” 

Steve and Bucky, who had been following at a much more sane pace, exchange truly  _ tired _ glances.

“You’re the one who wanted kids,” Steve says. 

“In my defense, I didn’t think about the part where they become-” Bucky gestures vaguely. 

“Teenagers?” 

“I was thinking monsters, but yeah, close enough.” 

“We can hear you, you know,” Matteo says, arms crossing over his chest and a judgmental expression that Bucky insists is  _ all Steve.  _ Steve disagrees, loudly, on principal, but even he can -secretly and silently- agree that despite looking nothing alike physically the resemblance  _ is  _ there. 

“Good,” Bucky says, and then, “Matteo, don’t touch your sister’s skin,” and then, when Marley looks triumphant, “and Marley, your brother  _ did  _ call dibs.” 

 

Later, when room arrangements are agreed upon and lunch is made and everyone is settled, they venture out to the water. 

Steve can feel himself unwind, like every muscle is individually relaxing and settling the moment the waves wash over his feet, and he can see Marley do the same, tugging her seal skin from around her waist and up over her shoulders like a cloak. 

Bucky and Matteo are rough housing a little further up the beach, a blur of tan skin and Bucky’s dark hair in a long swinging braid and Matteo’s fluff of violent purple, and even further on are more people, out to enjoy the sun and the sand just the same as they are. 

Marley dives in first, her skin seeming to shift to wrap around her as she submerges, only for the round, brown head of a seal to pop above the water moments later. 

A bare moment later, Steve follows her. 


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So what does a mermaid wedding consist of?” Bucky asks later that day. He’s closing up the coffee shop, wiping down the machines while Steve sits perched on the counter watching. He's only made one lewd comment about Bucky wiping down the milk frothers so far because he's engaged and respectable now. 
> 
> “You have to fight a leviathan to prove you’re worthy,” Steve says, straight faced.
> 
> In which Steve and Bucky get married and that whole mating bite thing happens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We had some technical difficulties (aka my brain's weird issue with doing it's job and producing serotonin) that stopped us from getting the full 31 ficlets for mermay, but hey, I managed one last one AND THERE'S A WEDDING. 
> 
> Content warning for uh, werewolf mating bites I guess??

When Bucky proposes it isn’t with anything extravagant. It’s when they’re tangled up in the sheets together, with a mouth against Steve’s own and a “Marry me. Be my mate. Be  _ mine.  _ Marry me.” 

“Be your mate or marry you?” Steve asks, less because he needs confirmation, but more because this feels like an appropriate moment to let Bucky sweat it out a little. He’s going to say yes.  _ Of course  _ he’s going to say yes. 

“Both. Either. Whatever you want.” 

“Yes,” Steve says and kisses Bucky, soft and slow and easy, “Of course. Yes. To both.  _ Yes.”  _

 

“So,” Steve says the next morning, cradling a cup of coffee (or creamer with a splash of coffee, as Bucky insists on calling it) close to his chest like he can suck up the caffeine without having to actually make the effort of drinking it, “We’re getting married.” 

It feels like something he needs to confirm. Something where he needs to make sure it wasn’t all a perfect dream. Judging by the look on Bucky’s face, the one that makes Steve feel like the best sort of treasure, the one that shakes him with how  _ much  _ there is there, it’s definitely not a dream. 

“Yeah. Yeah, we’re getting married,” Bucky says, sounding a little awestruck. 

“I hope you realize mermaid weddings are- well they’re just  _ a lot,”  _ Steve says, waving sort of vaguely in a way he hopes encompasses the sheer amount of muchness that is required for these things. 

Bucky, seeming to realize that, and also, Steve suspects, remembering that werewolf mating ceremonies are ridiculous as well, drops his forehead onto Steve’s shoulder with a soft “ _ Fuck.”  _

 

“So what does a mermaid wedding consist of?” Bucky asks later that day. He’s closing up the coffee shop, wiping down the machines while Steve sits perched on the counter watching. He's only made _one_ lewd comment about Bucky wiping down the milk frothers so far because he's engaged and  _respectable_ now. 

“You have to fight a leviathan to prove you’re worthy,” Steve says, straight faced. 

“You’re making that up,” Bucky insists, and then, a little less sure, “You’re making that up, right? Steve? _Right_?” 

Steve laughs so hard at the sight of Bucky’s worried expression that he nearly falls off the counter. 

 

Planning a wedding turns out to be  _ hard.  _ Planning a wedding that needs to essentially be two weddings in one because of the fact that they both come from wildly different magical species with wildly different customs is  _ even harder.  _

Steve has a spreadsheet. Bucky has a  _ binder.  _ Winifred Barnes has created an email chain for them and what feels like half the Barnes pack.

Steve thinks, while staring down emails from Winnie while Bucky gets ready for bed, that he might have a panic attack over it all to be entirely honest. 

“Is your mother trying to kill me?” Steve asks, half desperate. 

“Pretty sure she’s not. Why? What’s she doing now?” 

“The forest. We’re  _ still. on. the forest,”  _ Steve says, jabbing ruthlessly at his tablet as he types up the strongest worded email he can manage without feeling guilty to the woman who’s about to be his mother in law. “She says it has to be in the forest. I say it has to be on the beach because  _ how are you supposed to invoke sea gods when you’re away from the sea?  _ She says it has to be in the forest because  _ how do we do a ceremonial mating run without a forest?  _ Your mother realizes I’m not a werewolf right? She realizes I can’t run like a wolf,  _ right?”  _

Steve is  _ not _ hysterical. 

Steve  _ feels  _ a little  hysterical.  _Just a little._

“ _ Sweetheart,”  _ Bucky says, and his tone is gentle- coaxing-  _ soothing.  _ Steve is _not_ going to fall for it. “ _ Dollface,”  _ He adds, joining Steve on the bed, sliding in close and pressing a kiss to Steve’s bare shoulder while gently tugging the tablet out of Steve’s hands, “We can worry about my ma tomorrow. Let’s get ready for bed, huh?” 

“These are unfair tactics Barnes,” Steve says as Bucky uncoils his hair from it’s bun then passes the brush to Steve in what is a  _ very clear _ manipulation of Steve’s fondness for this particular activity. It’s very unfair that Steve is marrying someone who knows him so well.

Steve must have been cursed by  Lí Ban herself to suffer  _ so much.  _

 

Despite the anxiety, the wedding arrives with minimal panic attacks and no small amount of fanfare. 

A location is found, a guest list is made, plans are carefully crafted and carried out, and Steve spends an almost insane amount of time chatting in what Bucky and everyone else refers to as his “online mermaid support group” about how to translate something that normally happens underwater into something feasible on land. 

The community of mermaids who choose to live on land isn’t exactly  _ large  _ by any means, but Steve’s not the only one and he’s certainly not the first one to decide to get married. 

Steve feels confident. This is going to be great. He just has to make it through today and then he’ll be  _ married  _ to Bucky. He’ll be Bucky’s husband. Bucky’s  _ mate.  _

The excitement, he thinks, is an excuse for why he’s surprised when he wakes up to an empty bed and Bucky’s sisters crowded around him even though this was something he was warned about.

“We’re here to kidnap you,” Becca declares, her eyes bright with what Steve thinks is excitement. 

“Oh. Right. That’s a thing,” Steve says, blinking tiredly up at three bright, happy faces, each of them as much Winifred Barnes as Bucky himself is. He can’t help the smile that spreads on his face in return. He's marrying into  _this,_ into to  _these people,_ who are as loving as they are weird, who have made Steve a part of them even before Steve and Bucky got engaged. 

“It’s our sworn duty to kidnap you and demand ransom,” Abigail declares. 

“It’s  _ tradition _ ,” Alice sing-songs in her best fiddler on the roof imitation. 

“How much am I worth in ransom?” Steve asks as the three Barnes sisters rouse him up and out of the bed and proceed to tie a sheer, pretty blue scarf around his arms. It wouldn’t  _ actually  _ hold if Steve wanted to break out, but that’s not the point of this. 

“Hmmmm,” Becca hums, making a show of looking Steve up and down and speculating, “I'd say you'd fetch a pretty penny.” 

 

They frogmarch Steve to the waiting car, blindfold him while they take him to an undisclosed location that Steve is well aware is literally just a room tucked into the venue, and then untie him and give him a mimosa and a pastry. 

“Being ransomed isn’t so bad. A guy could get used to this,” Steve says,  picking apart the pastry as he eats it. It’s not quite as good as the ones Bucky makes for the shop, but it’s certainly not anything to turn his nose up at. 

“Enjoy it. It was the last moment of peace I had on my wedding day,” Becca says and then she’s handing a phone to Steve with, “Bucky wants to talk to you. He apparently doesn’t trust us to be nice.” 

“-I trust you I just want to talk to-” Steve hears as he presses the phone to his ear and interrupts Bucky with a “ _ Hi.”  _

He’s pretty sure he sounds besotted. That’s okay though. He’s about to get  _ married. _ He’s  _ allowed.  _

“Hi,” Bucky practically breathes back, equally as stupidly in love sounding as Steve.  _ Good.  _ Steve can’t be the only one in this very dumb feelings filled boat. 

“We’re getting  _ married _ today,” Steve says, like Bucky needs some sort of reminder. 

“I  _ know,”  _ Bucky says, like it’s some sort of miracle. 

 

Bucky has to embarrass himself and serenade Steve and his sisters to satisfy the ransom. Steve does his best to stifle his laughter, but Becca, Alice, and Abigail make no such attempts. 

And then- Well, it’s all sort of flying by after that. Vivid flashes of memory in what is otherwise a whirlwind of a day. 

Steve doesn’t think he’ll ever forget decorating each other, sliding the mother of pearl comb into Bucky’s hair, or clasping strands of gold around his wrists, or the sound of Bucky’s voice, the “I like this tradition even more than I thought I would,” low and warm against his ear as he clasps a cord of gold around Steve’s neck and then brushes his lips over the back of Steve’s neck, feather light. 

Or Bucky’s voice, warm and firm alongside Steve’s as they call on the gods of Steve’s people for blessings for their union. 

Bucky’s hand, warm and solid in Steve’s own while Bucky’s pack wraps cords around their hands and up their arms, binding them together. 

Bucky’s mouth on Steve’s own when they share their first kiss as husbands. 

Dancing with Bucky. 

Bucky laughing at something stupid Steve says- 

Bucky. 

Bucky. 

_ Bucky.  _

 

The last part of a werewolf marriage-slash-mating ceremony happens in private. 

Bucky takes Steve to bed, loves him exactly the way he likes, leaves him gasping and shuddering with Bucky’s hands on him and Bucky’s mouth pressed against his neck. 

“You ready?” Bucky asks, giving Steve one last chance to change his mind, to back out of this whole thing, which is  _ ridiculous.  _

“No,” Steve huffs a little, “We just went through all this planning and pledged ourselves to each other in front of everyone we know earlier just for me to back out at the very last second. Of course I’m ready. Go on, do the thing. I’m ready for it.” 

The thing being the whole  _ mating bite  _ thing. Which Bucky does, sinking his teeth into Steve’s neck. 

Steve would like to claim it’s gentle and romantic and relatively painless, but it hurts like a  _ bitch. _ He’s sure Bucky’s being as gentle as possible, and everything leading up to this moment really  _ has _ been pretty damn romantic, but there’s no way to make teeth breaking through skin into something that’s  _ painless.  _

Bucky presses his mouth against the spot after, gentle and not-quite soothing in contrast to the radiating pain, but  _ nice.  _

“Did it work?” Steve asks, pressing a gentle hand over the bite mark and twisting around to see Bucky properly. He’s read a as much as he could get his hands on about this whole process, has talked to a couple of Bucky’s packmates about it in the time since Bucky proposed, and of course, he’s discussed it with Bucky himself, so he knows roughly how this is supposed to work. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s not on the wolf side of this all and has no idea how it  _ actually  _ feels. 

_ Good,  _ is how it feels apparently. At least judging by the blown look to Bucky’s pupils and the low warmth in his voice when he says “Yeah. Yeah, it definitely worked.” 

“Oh,” Steve says, and then “ _ Good,”  _ and then he’s surging forward, catching Bucky in a kiss and tumbling them back into the pillows, “Can you feel me?” He asks, pressing a hand to Bucky’s chest over his heart. 

It’s not anything  _ spectacularly _ magical, Steve knows that. It’s not telepathy, or anything close, thank the universe for that because Steve’s not sure he wants anyone-  _ even Bucky-  _ in his head, but it’s  _ something.  _ Winifred had told him when he’d asked that it was like a presence, a  _ connection,  _ a feeling like she was carrying around a part of herself that belonged to her mate and her mate alone. 

“Yeah,” Bucky says, sounding breathless with it as his hands come up to cover Steve’s, “Yeah, Steve,  _god,_  you’re right _here_ ," He says, pressing their hands tighter to his chest. 

And then Bucky’s mouth is on Steve’s again, and then lower, until Steve is gasping and arching and sure,  _ so damn sure,  _ that he would trade the entire ocean for this man and this life if he had to. 

  
  


“Is it time to open all the wedding gifts?” Steve asks later, sliding his hands almost absently up and down Bucky’s sides, over his chest, down through the course hair that covers his stomach. Steve’s always been affectionate with Bucky, but there’s something to it that almost feels a little possessive now, like a dragon with their treasure, or, well, like a  _ mermaid  _ with their treasure. 

Bucky doesn’t seem to mind at least, has sunk into the soft touches from Steve with his eyes closed and he only cracks them open to shoot Steve an amused look, “Careful, I might start to suspect you only married me for the gifts.” 

“Didn’t I though?” Steve asking, faking confusion, “This was definitely just a very well thought out long con to get a bunch of presents.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact! I enjoyed thinking about like, how weddings and wedding equivalent ceremonies for different supernatural species would work and did a decent bit of research on different wedding customs in real life! One of my favorites was a group of friends or family (or even guests!) "kidnapping" the bride until the groom pays ransom, usually by doing something embarrassing, which apparently happens in quite a few different cultures! 
> 
> AND THAT'S ALL FOLKS. I might add some more to this series at some point cause I have a couple ficlets I started for this and didn't finish, but next up is me diving headfirst into the 5k I need to write for cap bb! If you wanna keep up with me and see occasional snippets of stuff I'm working on come follow me @attackofthezee on twitter!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [more floating than anything](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18804925) by [Deisderium](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deisderium/pseuds/Deisderium)




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